This invention is related to a watercraft such as a personal watercraft and more particularly to an improved shroud therefore.
Personal watercrafts have become increasingly popular in recent years. A personal watercraft, also known as a xe2x80x9cjet skixe2x80x9d, typically has a bottom hull, handle bars for steering, a tunnel within the bottom hull, a jet pump located within the bottom tunnel, and an engine within the hull under the top deck for driving the jet pump. The jet pump typically pulls in water from the front of the tunnel under the boat, and discharges the water at high velocity through a steerable nozzle at the rear of the boat. The handlebars are typically coupled to the nozzle, which is the steering mechanism for the personal watercraft. The watercraft commonly has a straddle-type seat and foot wells disposed on either side of the seat.
The top deck often includes a shroud mounted forward of the seat and on top of the top deck to house the steering column and other instruments. A fore portion of the top deck includes a hinged cover or hood that typically covers either a storage compartment or engine access port. Likewise, the shroud may include a compartment for storing tools or personal effects.
Personal watercrafts are often driven aggressively and at high rates of speed while maneuvering significantly. The fashion in which personal watercrafts are operated often makes it difficult for the operator to stabilize him or herself on the watercraft.
A number of attempts have been made to assist personal watercraft operators to stabilize themselves during ride. For example, specialized gloves with padded palms designed to allow for a secure grip on the handlebars or hand grips are an example of an accessory developed to alleviate the problem of rider stabilization.
A number of features to be added to the body of the personal watercraft have also been used to stabilize the operator and/or rider. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,802 discloses the use of a back of the leg support releasably attached to the foot well of a personal watercraft to stabilize the legs of a rider during operation.
Another example includes the extension of the cushioning of the seat down the vertical sides of the seat such that the operator or rider may apply pressure with his or her thighs against the vertical sides to facilitate stabilization.
While each of the aforedescribed attempts has assisted operators stabilize themselves during operation, a need remains for the facilitation of comfortably stabilizing the operator while maneuvering a personal watercraft.
The present invention provides a shroud for a personal watercraft. According to one aspect, there is provided a jet-propelled personal watercraft comprising a hull including a bottom hull and an upper portion secured over the bottom hull. The hull defines an engine compartment sized to contain an internal combustion engine for powering a jet propulsion unit. The jet propulsion unit includes a steerable water discharge nozzle.
The upper portion of the watercraft has a raised, longitudinally extending seat adapted to accommodate an operator in straddle fashion. The upper portion further includes a top deck portion and a shroud portion. The shroud portion is disposed forward of the seat and over the top deck. The shroud portion includes first and second sidewalls. A portion of the first and second sidewalls curve inward to form pockets at a point generally aligned with knees of an operator seated on the personal watercraft.
According to another aspect, there is provided a jet-propelled personal watercraft comprising a hull including a bottom hull and an upper portion secured over the bottom hull. The hull defines an engine compartment sized to contain an internal combustion engine for powering a jet propulsion unit. The jet propulsion unit includes a steerable water discharge nozzle.
The upper portion of the watercraft has a raised, longitudinally extending seat adapted to accommodate an operator in straddle fashion. The upper portion further includes a top deck portion and a shroud portion, the shroud portion being disposed over the top deck and housing steering controls that control the steerable water discharge nozzle. The shroud portion of the upper portion includes right and left sidewalls. A portion of the right and left sidewalls taper downwardly inwardly from a top portion of the shroud portion in an area generally aligned with knees of an operator seated on the personal watercraft.
According to another aspect, there is provided a jet-propelled personal watercraft comprising a hull including a bottom hull and an upper portion secured over the bottom hull. The hull defines an engine compartment sized to contain an internal combustion engine for powering a jet propulsion unit. The jet propulsion unit includes a steerable water discharge nozzle.
The upper portion of the watercraft has a raised, longitudinally extending seat adapted to accommodate an operator in straddle fashion. The upper portion further includes a shroud portion housing disposed below steering controls that control the steerable water nozzle. The shroud portion includes first and second sidewalls with a portion of the first and second sidewalls curving inward to form pockets at a point generally aligned with knees of an operator seated on the personal watercraft.